


To Bind One to the Other

by astudyinfic



Series: Universally Ackowledged [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, But mostly fluff, M/M, Malec wedding, SO MUCH FLUFF, and a lot of smut, and they lived happily ever after
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 06:19:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13944945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: After a couple of years together, Magnus and Alec decide to make things as official as they can.  The family gathers at Edom Estates to witness the unlawful union of Magnus Bane and Alexander Lightwood.





	To Bind One to the Other

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of lemons convinced me this story wasn't done yet and who am I to argue?

The sun was setting as Alec rested against a tree in their garden.  Birds sang their evening songs and the love of his life rested with his head in Alec’s lap.  A book in one hand and the other stroking through Magnus’ hair, Alec couldn’t think of a moment more peaceful than the one he was in.  

“Penny for your thoughts, darling,” Magnus asked, looking up at him with beautiful golden eyes wide and concerned.  “You were miles away there. I think you missed my story about Madame Dorothea and her complicated requests for a gown.”  Alec enjoyed Magnus’ stories about his clients. The few he’d met didn’t strike him to be nearly as interesting as Magnus described them, but he also knew his lover would wax poetic about him, in ways he would never deserve.

He smiled, “I’m sorry.  You know I love your stories.  Please forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive.”  Magnus stretched up, kissing Alec at the awkward angle before lying back down on the grass.  Alec set his book aside to focus entirely on his lover.

He’d never known freedom like he did at Edom.  While there always seemed to be people coming and going, their guests were usually family or some of the few others in the know.  Magnus and Alec kissed each other goodbye when one had to leave for some reason or another, held hands while walking the grounds, and were often found curled together on the same couch, Alec reading while Magnus listened peacefully.  

Whether in London or Edom, their home was their sanctuary.  But while in London, they had to be more careful, because even a gated garden behind their home could be viewed from the right angle and you never knew who was looking.  The moment they stepped outside the house while in the city, they were the epitome of propriety. Unless one was intimately acquainted with them, they would never suspect anything untoward between them.  

But here in Edom, they could act however they wanted.  The two often ate their meals in the garden, whenever the weather cooperated.  There was always giggling, happiness, and love between them, kisses shared whenever one passed a dish to the other, and no need to hide.  Everyone who worked there supported their relationship, so no one would ever turn them in.

Which was why they felt comfortable to be lying here in the garden, closer than any two people who were not lovers had any reason to be.  Alec’s free hand found Magnus’ and he linked their fingers together, resting their combined fist on Magnus’ chest. “What were you thinking about so intently?”  Magnus asked, squeezing his hand lightly.

“I wish I could marry you.”  Alec didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, trying to find some lyrical way to explain to his lover just how much he wanted a lifelong commitment to him.  Even though they both knew they would never part, he wished he could share that with some sort of ceremony, or something binding, even if it was just for the two of them.  

But their society would never allow two men to marry, and if anyone found out if they even tried something unofficial, it could be disastrous.  Their family accepted them but Alec figured no one else ever would.

He chanced a look at Magnus who had tears shining in his eyes.  “I would like nothing more than that. I design these gowns all day, every day.  Many of them are for weddings and yet, I will never be able to have one myself. It pains me to not be able to give that to you.”

Alec knew Magnus loved women in his past and occasionally wondered in the back of his mind if Magnus didn’t wish for a relationship that was easier, one where he could link his arm with the one he loved, and dance with them at the balls they were expected to attend.  

But those were dark moments, usually when he was already feeling low.  Most of the time, Alec knew that what they had was special and no one would ever come between them.  To hear Magnus was upset about not being able to give that ceremony to Alec only made him more certain of how much they both wanted this.  

“Could we do something just for us?” Alec asked.  He’d read a lot about different parts of the world and how they had their own ceremonies for a couple when they sought to join their lives together.  Even if they couldn’t follow something traditional for England, it didn’t mean there wasn’t something out there that would work for them.

When Magnus fell silent, Alec considered the conversation dropped and thought nothing more of it.  Most likely it was a source of grief for Magnus as it was for Alec and he didn’t blame his lover for not wanting to be reminded of how different they were, even from their own siblings who got to have the wedding and public acknowledgment of their love.  

Soon enough, Magnus stood and offered Alec his hand.  With a smile, Alec followed him back to their bedroom, letting Magnus undress him slowly, peeling him out of his clothes as if he were the most precious gift Magnus had ever been given.  No words were spoken, even as they moved to their bed and met in the most intimate of embraces. The pain they felt at being ostracized was nothing compared to the joy they felt when lost in their lover’s arms.  

One cried out the others name in his bliss while the other followed a few moments later.  After cleaning themselves, Magnus rolled to rest his head on Alec’s chest, his heart directly under his lover’s ear.  Soft words were almost lost due to the gentleness of them and Alec held him closer, needing the reassurance that they were on the same page.  

“I will call you my husband someday,” Magnus had whispered.  Both men ignored the tears that fell from Magnus’ eyes, rolling down Alec’s chest.  It didn’t need to be said. Being kept from that holy union was hard on them both.

A few mornings later neither had spoken about it again.  They were eating breakfast in the dining room as the rain poured down outside.  Simon and Izzy were due to be visiting that day but with the weather, most likely the visit would be delayed a day or two.  It left them aimless, and while they would often retire to their room to find alternative methods of distraction, Magnus had something else in mind.  

He set a book in front of Alec’s plate, already open to the page he was gesturing to.  “This. We can do this. No one around here would understand the significance until we disclosed it, but it would be... it would be as eternal as we can make it.  Something that would stand as a monument to our love, even after we are gone.”

Alec’s fork froze halfway to his mouth and he stared at the page in awe and hope.  Nothing about this would symbolize anything to the people of England unless Magnus and Alec told them the reasoning.  They could do this, a more public declaration of their love, even if only the two of them and their family would understand (once they explained it to them).  And privately, they could exchange vows, a more traditional wedding but one for only the two of them.

“It's perfect," Alec smiled.  If they could do something in the place of a wedding, he would be the happiest man in the world.  But even if he was never able to call Magnus his husband, he would still be happier than he thought anyone dared to be.  Magnus brought such light to his life that he couldn't imagine what it would have been like without him.

Dim, depressing, and lonely most likely.

"I'll talk to mother.  She and Max are in town today to find him a new tutor.  He's driven away yet another one." When Maryse and Max moved to Edom a year after Alec moved there, Magnus had hired the best tutor money could by.  Within a week, she'd moved back to London. He tried a few more times before Maryse and Alec took pity on him and started to find one themselves. Max was brilliant, particularly for someone his age, and an expert on reading people. He drove away more teachers and tutors, simply through his own brand of mischief, finding what would annoy them the most and executing it to the best of his ability.  It was infuriating but they loved him all the same.

“That brother of yours is going to lead us all into an early grave,” Magnus laughed.  “But yes, when Maryse gets back, we can discuss when to do this. I was thinking the guest list would be your mother, brothers and Biscuit, Simon and Isabelle, Raphael, Ragnor, and Catarina.  Is there anyone else you would like to invite?”

Alec briefly thought about John but while his friend was supportive, he suspected that wouldn’t include an acceptance of marriage between two men.  He didn’t want to put John in that situation, and he really didn’t want Lydia there. “No, I think that is everyone.” Keep it small and intimate. The only people who mattered would be there.

To his surprise, Maryse agreed readily.  She’d been growing steadily more accustomed to their relationship, particularly now that she lived at Edom.  More than once, Alec had been treated to the scene of his mother taking down one of their detractors in public.  She somehow managed to say everything she wanted without ever crossing a line that would get any of them in trouble.  Alec would forever be grateful to have his mother’s quick mind and sharp tongue on his side now, instead of working against one another.  

“I was wondering if you two would ever try to make this official,” she shrugged when they approached her with the idea.  “Not what I would have come up with but it is lovely and quite symbolic. I approve.”

If even a couple years prior, someone told Alec that his mother would be supportive of him being in a relationship with another man, Alec would have first laughed at them and then fled, for fear of what would happen if anyone knew where his inclinations lay.  But here was Maryse Lightwood, giving her blessing to an unofficial union between her eldest son and his male lover. Alec couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

As the planning progressed, Magnus sent invitations to their siblings as well as good friend Ragnor and his wife Catarina.  Alec loved Magnus’ family. They were some of the most understanding people he’d ever met, and the only people he knew who loved Magnus almost as strongly as Alec himself did.  He laughed when they received a reply from Ragnor addressed to Alec, asking if he had lost his mind to bind himself to Magnus in such a way. Magnus pouted until Alec kissed the sour expression off his lips.

Despite the friendly teasing, every one of their friends and family said they would be there.  With the date set and guest list confirmed, Magnus threw himself into party planning. Alec stepped back and let him take over.  It was obviously something Magnus loved. He remembered that first dance he organized back at duMort the first time they met. The first time another man looked at Alec and saw someone they could love, the way he wanted to be loved.

When Magnus asked Alec to dance, he hadn’t responded well, if only for fear of how he would be viewed by everyone around him.  So much had changed since then, Alec could hardly remember what it was like to be that concerned with everyone else’s opinions of him.  Now, Magnus and Alec danced all the time, even if there was no music to be heard. Alec enjoyed Magnus’ singing more than any quartet anyway.

There wouldn’t be dancing or music at this wedding.  It would truly only be the two of them and their nearest and dearest.  The love they shared may be the thing sonnets were written about but that didn’t mean they were going to be unwise about this.  No outside chefs or musicians, no decorators and certainly no ministers. They would do this themselves.

Which was made a lot easier when Simon and Isabelle appeared the week before the nuptials were to take place.  Izzy barely placed a kiss on Alec’s cheek before she took off with Magnus to work on the plans and help make sure it was beautiful and perfect.  “You realize that she will take over if you let her,” Simon laughed as the two of them played a game of chess in the library.

“You do realize who your brother is, right?  I’m not too concerned. Normally, my money would be on Izzy but this is our wedding.  Magnus will take care of it.”

And he did.  Alec was thankful when his lover put his foot down on some of Izzy’s more extravagant ideas.  There was no need for a ball when the wedding itself had ten guests. Magnus’ beloved cat did not need to play a part in the ceremony, no matter how cute Izzy thought it would be.  

They’d agreed it would be small, and casual all things considered.  

Izzy managed to hide her disappointment well.

The rest of the family arrived the day before and suddenly a house that often felt far too big for Alec and Magnus was almost too crowded.  Magnus was in his element, entertaining everyone and while Alec loved to watch him, it was too much. He slipped out into the garden, walking through the well-trimmed rows to the place where they would create a bond between one another the next day.  Everything was already set up and he smiled to himself. He’d never imagined this life, and now everything he’d ever secretly hoped for was coming true. Alec could have cried from happiness but footsteps behind him had him blinking rapidly so as to not be caught in an emotional moment.  

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Magnus asked, wrapping his arms around Alec’s waist and resting his forehead against his lover’s neck.  “Are you worried?”

Alec chuckled, feeling Magnus smile against his skin.  “I am ready, but it doesn’t really change anything. I’ve known that you were forever for me since the moment you kissed me in the hall of duMort.  Tomorrow just formalizes what I have felt for so long.”

“I was so afraid for the rest of the night that I’d done something unforgivable.  Our relationship - what existed of it then - was so fragile that I worried I’d made things worse.  I wanted you from the moment I saw you, Alexander. And when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.  Only afterward did I worry about the consequences.” Magnus shook his head and Alec turned in his arms if only so he could kiss any doubt or self-loathing from his lover’s face.  

“No one ever looked at me the way you did, Magnus.  I didn’t think anyone could see me the way you did. The kiss shocked me, yes, but the moment you pulled away, I wanted more.  For the first time, the things I wanted didn’t feel sinful and wrong, because if they were directed at you, if you were causing those feelings inside me, then they could be nothing less than holy.”

He saw the way Magnus’ eyes teared up and he ran a thumb across his cheekbone.  “You’re it for me, Magnus Bane. I never want another for as long as I live. And whether we have a ceremony or not, I promise my life to you, forever.”

Magnus laughed, watery and light and tapped Alec on the chest.  “We are having a ceremony. I’ve put too much work into it for you to back out now.”  He stretched up to kiss Alec. “But I love you for trying to reassure me. It really did work.  But I also want to see you dressed to the nines and pledging your life to me, both in what we have planned for the family as well as our vows tomorrow night.”

While it was traditional to exchange vows in front of friends and family, their plan was to do it privately.  It wasn’t a traditional wedding and that was something they didn’t want to share with anyone, a vow between themselves and God above.  “Well, I thought I might try one last time to get out of having a party,” Alec laughed, kissing his lips. “But, I suppose I will just have to show how much I love you tomorrow.”

“You could start by showing me tonight.”  Magnus winked at him and dragged him to their room.  They might be getting married the next day but neither man had any problem starting their wedding night a little early.

Thankful to whatever deity was looking out for them, the sun was shining brightly when they awoke the next morning.  Their naked bodies were tangled together, warmed by the dying fire in the hearth and the sun on their skin. Magnus’ lips pressed gentle kisses to his shoulders and neck, and Alec planned to respond accordingly when someone knocked on the door.  “You two get dressed and be ready for breakfast in fifteen minutes.” Izzy’s voice carried through the heavy wood separating them from her. “Otherwise I’m coming in, so if you are doing something you don’t wish for me to see, best to get on it right now.”

Alec groaned, head falling back against the pillow.  “Why can’t we have one morning that isn’t interrupted?”  

Fingers danced up and down his sides as Magnus laughed at him, “This is how we spend every morning, darling.  I think one day where we are up and social before noon isn’t going to kill us.”

“That’s easy for you to say.  You weren’t the one being teased when they woke up.”

“Every morning I get to see your body is a temptation, Alexander.  But it is one I will gladly accept, even if I fall victim to your wiles more often than not.”

Alec grinned, rolling them so Magnus was on his back with Alec on top.  “I don’t have any wiles,” he smirked, kissing down Magnus’ chest. “What I do have is fifteen minutes and you in bed with me.”  He took Magnus in his mouth, relishing the string of vulgarities that came from his normally proper lover.

“Isabelle herself couldn’t pull me away,” Magnus gasped, hand threading through Alec’s hair, careful to guide him exactly where Magnus needed him to be.  Alec hummed his approval and set to work. He had a deadline to meet, after all, and wouldn’t settle for anything less than completion.

The two of them walked into breakfast only eight minutes late, relaxed, sated smiles lighting up their faces as they ignored the knowing looks from their family.  It would have been over sooner but Magnus offered to reciprocate and Alec had no desire to say no.

“Seriously, you two have been together for a while now.  You’d think you would have gotten that out of your system by now,” Jace sighed despondent, ignoring the way his wife punched his shoulder to get him to shut up.  Becoming Lord Herondale and inheriting the Clave had done nothing to make Alec’s brother into a proper gentleman, though it appeared Clary was doing her best with what she had.  

“Just because you are a disappointment to our poor Biscuit doesn’t mean that all of us are that way,” Magnus smirked, earning glares from Maryse, Jace, and Ragnor but laughter from the rest of them.  Alec shook his head and kissed Magnus if only to make him stop talking. He was afraid he would burst into flames if he blushed any harder from his lover and his brother discussing his sex life.

Izzy poured them both coffee and then took her seat next to Simon.  “So are you two ready? The big day.”

“You do realize this is just a formality, right?” Alec asked, taking a pastry for himself and one for Magnus, knowing exactly which type his lover preferred.  “And, technically, illegal.”

“Yes, well, legality hasn’t really been stopping you lately, now has it, big brother?”  Alec could see how delighted that made Izzy. The idea he was doing something for himself, consequences be damned, was one she’d been trying to instill in him for years.  But for so long, he’d been worried about how his decisions would affect everyone else. Now that he knew his elder siblings were fine and the youngest was shielded here at Edom, he had nothing left to fear.  His mother would be taken care of for the rest of her life and Alec was finally free.

“Someone’s been a bad influence on me,” he smirked, glancing over at Magnus who attempted to look innocent, something that made Ragnor scoff in reply.  

With a roll of his eyes, Ragnor pointed his butter knife at Magnus, “You single-handedly keep me in business, you know that?  When I decided to be a barrister, I thought I would be defending innocent people from a corrupt system. Instead, I spend most of my days making sure you don’t get arrested.  I do wish you wouldn’t court controversy quite like you do, Magnus.”

Alec looked chastened, staring down at his plate.  While he’d thought of how it would affect his family, he hadn’t considered Magnus’ friends and associates, outside of his brothers.  He hadn’t realized he would be causing Ragnor so much trouble. His self-conscious thoughts were interrupted by Ragnor himself, “Mr. Lightwood, this has nothing to do with you.  You make Magnus happy and I would gladly defend that until the end of my days. I was thinking more of his fashions and the fact that he has a new public indecency charge every other week.”  

He smiled softly and nodded his thanks to Ragnor before turning his attention to his boyfriend who looked insulted.  “Just because England is so uptight that the thought of ankles sends everyone into a tizzy doesn’t mean I am being indecent.  The styles I create would be the height of fashion anywhere but here.”

“Yes, but you live here, so either figure out how to change the laws or conform.”

Alec couldn’t help but laugh at the horrified look on Magnus’ face at the thought of having to conform.  “I love you just the way you are. You don’t have to conform for me, Magnus,” Alec smiled, stealing a kiss from his lover before turning back to his breakfast.  He thought back to that first meal he’d shared with his mother and Magnus, right after everything had been brought out into the open. The fear of Maryse’s disapproval had kept Alec stressed, even when he didn’t realize it.  Now, he and Magnus kissed and held hands and did everything normal couples did and his mother didn’t even bat an eye.

He loved her.

“Are you two ready for today?” she asked, directing attention away from her son’s lover’s supposed crimes and back to the event of the day.  “Is there anything you two need help with? Any last minute things that need to be taken care of?”

“No, thank you, Mother.  I think everything is ready.  We’re going to do it at three and then have supper afterward.  That’s all. The staff has the meals taken care of and all the rest of you need to do is show up as Magnus and Izzy have already completed the decorating.”  

Maryse nodded and smiled.  "Alright, if you are sure. Max and I are going to work on his studies until the wedding."  Max groaned and glared at his brother as if it were Alec's fault that he had to study with their mom and not the tutors they kept selecting for him.

"If you behaved, this wouldn't be an issue, would it Max?" Alec laughed, seeing his brother pout.  He loved him dearly but this would be a good lesson for him. Getting rid of the tutors sounds well and good until he gets stuck with Maryse as his teacher instead.  

After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways.  While Alec liked that they'd chosen something small and casual, it meant there wasn't much to do with the ceremony.  So Magnus went to work on some designs and Alec worked on his novel. Except the words for that weren't coming. Instead, he kept thinking about how, after tonight, he would be able to call Magnus his husband.  Maybe not everywhere, maybe not even outside of this house. But in all the ways that mattered, he and Magnus would be married.

Instead of his novel, which he knew he needed to get to work on before his publisher came up here personally from London to force him to complete it, Alec started writing about Magnus, reminiscent of those months ago where he wrote everything he felt for the man, even while trying to prove that he would do what he needed to for his family.  Back when he thought he would have to marry Lydia and live a lie for the rest of his life.

But now, the words came not from a place of longing but from one of love.  Everything about Magnus that Alec adored poured from his heart and mind onto the paper in front of him.  For the next hour, Alec wrote and wrote and wrote. He wouldn’t say it all that night, but someday, he hoped Magnus would read it and know how important he truly was to Alec.  

By the time he was done, someone knocked on his office door, delivering his lunch to the room as they often did when he was working.  He ate quickly, reading over what he’d written and tied it up with a string, to place in their room so he could read the important part to Magnus that night.  

Magnus was already in the room when Alec arrived, fussing with his shirt and looking more and more flustered with each passing second.  “Magnus,” he sighed, setting the paper on the table next to the bed and walking over to help him. “Magnus, let me.” The look of adoration when his eyes met Magnus’ nearly floored him and Alec fought to keep breathing.  How could someone be so beautiful? How could someone love him so much? Their love was something out of a fairy tale and Alec could have wept right then and there from happiness.

“It doesn’t look right.  Nothing looks right. It needs to be perfect.”  Magnus’ hands were back on the buttons of his shirt but Alec took them in his own, pulling his lover closer and giving him a quick peck on the lips.  

“You look beautiful in everything you wear.  You could go out there in your sleep clothes and I would still think you were the most gorgeous man I have ever seen in my life.  Didn’t we pick out clothes for this last night?” That was the point, he thought. Decide everything with a clear head so they couldn’t get themselves worked up over it when emotions were already running high.  “You wanted the blue shirt with the gold trim so it would match the blue trim on my white shirt, remember?”

Magnus let out a watery chuckle, resting his head lightly against Alec’s chest.  “You’re perfect, you know that? I know you don’t care anything about clothes and yet you remember that.  Alexander, you’re going to make me cry and then my makeup will run and I will have to start all over again.”

Running his hands up and down Magnus’ back, Alec kissed the top of his head, “Then don’t cry.  We already have our clothes picked out. I’ll even help you get them on, which will be fun to remember tonight when I take them back off again.”

Like clockwork, that caused Magnus’ breath to hitch in his throat and when he looked back up at Alec, the tears were gone, replaced with unbridled lust.  “Magnus, no. Tonight, okay. We have to be down there in an hour and if I show up with sex hair to our wedding, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Magnus smirked but in the end, nodded.  The two of them dressed in companionable silence.  Their eyes drifted to one another and they smiled, knowing their minds were in the same place.  That this was it. They were finally making a commitment and neither one thought they could have been happier.  

Together, they walked hand in hand to the garden where their friends and family were already gathered.  A shared look and the two men smiled, taking their place in the small circle of assembled friends and family.  “When we told you that this was going to be informal, I’m not sure what you expected,” Alec started off by saying, seeing the confused looks on his sister and Clary’s faces.  There was nothing out here except for a couple shovels and a small tree. “But we wanted to do something meaningful, something that would symbolize our commitment to one another.”

He smiled at Magnus, “Magnus, I will love you until my dying breath, and if there is any forgiveness in this world, I will continue to love you for all eternity.  You are the one I waited for my whole life and I would give you forever if I could. Instead, I give you _my_ forever, and a promise that long after I am gone, this tree will stand as a symbol of my love for you.  A love that is as enduring, strong, and firm as this tree.” Blinking, Alec hoped the tears wouldn’t fall because if he started to cry, then Magnus would and they would never get through this.  

“Alexander, when I met you, I thought love was for fools. I’d had my heart broken too many times and thought that it was best just to give up.  And then I looked into those eyes and I saw forever. It was a long, arduous path to get here but here we are. I will always love you, always be with you, and even after I am gone, my love for you will be as enduring, strong, and firm as this tree.  Generations from now, Lightwoods and Lewises alike will have this tree to remember what we had with one another.”

Magnus kissed him, the two men ignoring the sniffling from most of the assembled group.  Together, they grabbed shovels and started to dig. And when the tree was planted, they kissed once more, just because they could.  

Keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Magnus’ waist, Alec looked at their small family, one they’d created for themselves and couldn’t have been more perfect if they tried.  “All we ask of each of you is to help support us, be there for us, and love us as we love each of you.”

The ceremony was over only twenty minutes after it started and the moment Alec and Magnus nodded that they were done, Izzy threw herself into her brother’s arms.  “Alec, that was beautiful. When we get back to duMort we are going to do that as well. A tree? I would never have thought of that but the metaphor is... I love you so much, big brother.”  

Alec smiled, letting his own tears finally fall as he hugged his sister tight.  “This wouldn’t have been possible without you, Iz.”

“Nonsense, I didn’t know you were doing any of this.  I just helped decorate the dining room for dinner and plan the menu.”  She waved off his gratitude and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. “This was all you and Magnus.”

Shaking his head, Alec laughed, “I meant everything, Iz, not just the wedding.  I don’t know if Magnus and I would have gotten to this point if you hadn’t given us the push we both needed.”

Her beaming smile could have lit up the world at that moment.  “And I would do it again, Alec. You deserved to be happy and I could see Magnus would make you happy.  Anyone could have seen that. You just needed a little guidance and I’m so happy it worked out.”

“Me too, Iz.”

With his arm still around his sister, the two of them walked to the dining room which she and Magnus decorated for the occasion.  Blues and golds decorated the room and despite the sun still being up, the curtains were drawn closed and candles flickered, giving the room a heavenly glow.  Alec ate most meals here since moving to Edom but never saw it looking like this. “Izzy. Magnus. This is...” he couldn’t find the words, something that should have disturbed him as a writer but he was too overwhelmed to worry about it now.

“Go to your husband,” she grinned, pushing him towards Magnus before turning to find Simon where he waited to pull her chair out for her.

Unable to stop smiling, Alec did just that, pulling Magnus into an embrace and hugging him.  “Hello, husband.”

“Hello, husband,” Magnus echoed, his own face radiant with joy.  “So, Alexander, we did it. We are as officially wed as we can make it.”  

Dipping his head, Alec kissed him, ignoring the fact that their family was waiting for them to start the meal.  He planned on kissing Magnus from now until the end of their days if he had any say in the matter. Magnus’ lips were addictive.  Magnus eventually had to push him back gently, laughing as he did. “Darling, I love kissing you but I think they wish to eat. And I promise to do much more than that when we retire for the evening.”

The remainder of what was still to come made Alec grin and he nodded, pulling out Magnus’ chair for him before taking the seat next to him.  With everyone finally seated, dinner began, with several courses, a lot of laughter, and two of the happiest men in England sitting at the head of the table together.

Retiring to the sitting room, most of the group joined in a rousing game of cards but Alec and Magnus’ hearts weren’t in it.  As much as they loved their family, the desire to be alone together overpowered everything else. Alec set his cards down. “I fold.  As much fun as this is, I am going to have to say good night.”

The family bid them good night, exchanging knowing glances between themselves that had Alec rolling his eyes.  He loved them all but they were insufferable most of the time.

Magnus didn’t give him time to dwell on it, though, taking his hand and leading him down the massive corridors of the home.  Night had fallen by now but through the few curtains that were still open, the moonlight cast silvery shadows on the expensive carpet.  

Not that Alec was paying attention to any of that, his hand locked tight with that of his lover, the two of them walking towards their bedroom for what would prove to be their wedding night. While they made promises to one another at the tree that day, the promises they would make that night, in the security of their room, would be the true vows that bound their relationship together.  Things that couldn’t be said in front of their friends and family, no matter how supportive they all were.

The door latched behind them, blocking out any sounds from the halls and the other rooms.  There they were completely alone. It was a sanctuary and a separate world, one Alec thought of as his favorite place he’d ever been.  

Reminiscent of their first night together, the moment the door was closed, Magnus pounced, pushing Alec back against the hardwood and kissing him deeply.  The brandy he’d been sipping before coming up here was still strong on his lips and tongue and Alec thought, not for the first time, that if every alcohol came with that strong taste of Magnus, he would be much more inclined to drink something other than wine.

He wanted to push Magnus back, to remind him of their plan, but then Magnus rolled his hips just right and all the words died in his throat.  Thankfully, Magnus still had a voice and began to whisper his vows to Alec as he slowly undressed him there against the door. “My darling Alexander,” he started.  “Before you came into my life, I felt as if I was stuck in eternal night. Nothing mattered and I could see no hope. I skipped from one controversy to the next, using that to fill the hole where affection and love would have gone in my heart.”

Magnus kissed down Alec’s neck, popping open the buttons of his shirt as he did so.  “But then you came into my life. A beautiful, sullen, overly protective mess of a man and I couldn’t stop thinking about you.  No longer did I do things to gain the attention of the crowds because you were the only one I wanted to look at me.”

With Alec’s shirt fully open, Magnus slid it off his shoulders and leaned forward, taking one of his lover’s nipples in his mouth, sucking lightly until it pebbled against his tongue.  Then he pulled off and repeated on the other side, the deep, needy groans from Alec spurring him on. “I didn’t think you would actually look at me. Why would you? So concerned with your family and their reputation, even if you liked men, you wouldn’t act on it.  I was falling and the only thing waiting for me at the end would be the pain of a broken heart. But, you surprised me. You pushed past that fear and the mistrust and somehow, I ended up with you in my arms.”

Pulling Alec away from the door, Magnus moved him to the bed and pushed him down gently.  “I was the only who got to take you apart, listen to the noises you make when kissed in just the right way.  And I vow to you to keep searching, to keep finding new ways to bring you pleasure, from now until the end of our days.”  Alec stared up at him, tears in his eyes and dick hard in his pants. To feel so much love and lust all at once was confusing but he didn’t care because Magnus Bane, his husband and the love of his life, was the best type of contradiction.

Magnus unfastened his pants, pulling them off slowly.  “But more than that, more than this beautiful body which you give to me every night and sometimes during the day, you also gave me your most precious treasure.  My vow to you, my dearest husband is to protect that treasure, that big, generous, loving heart of yours for the rest of our lives and follow it to the next world and the next. Because any world without Alec Lightwood in it is one I don’t wish to be in.  You are my husband from now until the end of days and I will love you even longer than that.”

Tears burned Alec’s eyes and his breath came in puffs, turned on and so emotional. “Magnus, please,” he pleaded.  He needed more friction, more sensation. Magnus was driving him mad with the lightest of touches. Just his words and undressing him had Alec on edge already.  But he needed to hold on, if for no other reason than Magnus deserved to hear his vows as well. After spending a good deal of the day writing about their love, he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“My husband,” Magnus replied, love in his eyes.  “What do you need?”

“You, Magnus.  Always you.” Because nothing else in the world mattered if he didn’t have Magnus with him.  He knew, though, that Magnus wasn’t asking that, not particularly. “But right now, husband, I need you undressed.  Because I’m naked and you are not.”

Magnus chuckled, leaning forward.  “What are you going to do about it, darling?”  He hovered over Alec’s naked body, Magnus’ clothes dragged tantalizingly against his skin.  They’d never been so unequally dressed before and Aled didn’t know it could be so...hot.

With a smirk, Alec flipped them over, his husband’s surprised face looking up at him.  “How about I do that?” His muscles might not have been as pronounced as Magnus’ but he knew his lover appreciated his strength, particularly when Alec took him against the bookcase in their library one memorable night.  Anything to remind him of the most arousing night of Alec’s life, one he knew Magnus enjoyed too if his cries of pleasure had been anything to go by that had echoed through the library.

“How did I get so lucky?” Magnus purred, pulling Alec in for a kiss.

And if Alec had been waiting for an opening to say his vows to his husband, that was it.  He didn't need to read what he wrote. Everything Alec wanted to say would come from his heart, just as Magnushad done a few moments before.  “You saw me, Magnus. You looked at me and saw someone worth loving, someone who was worth the risk.” Alec sat back knees bracketing Magnus’ hips, reaching out to open Magnus’ shirt. As he exposed that beloved chest, his words were briefly stolen from him.  Smoothing his hands up and down Magnus’ skin, Alec felt himself grow harder, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Magnus if his smirk was any indication.

“I always thought I couldn’t have what I wanted.  I’d given up on ever having someone I loved, someone who sent me to the heights of passion.  I thought the best I would get would be to lay back and think of England, hoping children would come from the union so I wouldn’t have to worry about that ever again.”  It was weird to think he had been willing to give all this up, the chance to be with someone who turned him on like this, someone who he wanted as much as they wanted him.  

He slid down until he was settled between Magnus’ legs and began to unfasten his trousers, smirking when he found his husband decide to forgo undergarments that day.  “But now, here I am. In bed with the most beautiful person in England, if not the world. Here I am with the man I will be privileged to call my husband for the rest of my days.  A man whose beauty puts everyone else to shame.” Pulling off the remainder of Magnus’ clothing, Alec shook his head, unable to believe his luck.

“I will love you until the end of days.  I will love you with everything I am and I will continue to grow that love until I draw my last breath.  And someday, I hope they will sing of our love, tell people that despite all the odds set against us, we managed to love one another.”  

Grabbing the oil they kept beside the bed, Alec began to work Magnus open.  “I love everything about you, Magnus Bane. I love your eyes, your hair, your body.  I love your amazing mind and even more amazing heart. I love the sounds you make when I touch you like this and I love the look in your eyes when you touch me in return.  I love that you were made for me, that some benevolent god chose to put us in the same place at the same time so that we could have this life together.”

When Magnus was open, gasping for breath already and hole clenching around nothing as Alec withdrew his fingers, Alec oiled his own length and pressed slowly inside his lover’s body.  “I love that our bodies fit together like our hearts and minds do. But, more than anything, I love you. All of you, ever good part and every bad, because of not in spite of.”

Sweat dripped from Alec’s brow at the effort of holding himself back, just resting inside his lover until Magnus was practically sobbing, begging him to start moving.  Alec dipped his head to kiss Magnus and pulled his hips back, snapping them forward a moment later.

Words were lost to them, but the movements of their bodies, the gentle touches that set fire to skin that shone with sweat, it spoke more than their words ever could.  Promises burned to their very skin, like runes of old. Promises to love, to protect. Promises to listen and to talk, to always communicate with one another instead of making assumptions.  Promises to be a family, not just to one another but also to everyone else in their little group. And mostly, promises to bring joy and pleasure to one another, each day every day for the rest of their lives.  

Alec reached down, taking Magnus in his hand and stroking the man he loved as he approached his completion.  “Come for me, Magnus. Let go, I’ve got you.”

With that, Magnus arched, releasing across Alec’s hand and his own belly, his body clenching tight around Alec.  It pulled Alec over the edge as well, crying out Magnus’ name as he emptied himself inside of him.

He collapsed down on top of Magnus, both of them breathing heavily as Alec slipped from his lover’s body.  “I love you, husband,” he grinned, sleeping but ecstatic.

“And I love you, my dearest husband.  But you need to get off me. If we don’t clean up we’ll be stuck like this when we wake up.”

Alec almost said that being stuck to Magnus was hardly an imposition but the mess was uncomfortable so he understood.  Giving Magnus a quick kiss, he pushed his heavy limbs to lift his body off his husband and go get a cloth to clean them both.  Gently, Alec wiped them both down and tossed the cloth to the floor, not wanting to deal with it until tomorrow.

Magnus held up the blanket and Alec climbed in, pulling his husband to him, their foreheads resting together.  With whispered I love yous and gentle kisses, each of them drifted to sleep in the arms of his husband. The rest of the world might not recognize what they had but along with their family, they both knew that what they had was true.  

Was real.  

Was forever.

 


End file.
